I'm going to have to look into that. It's hard for me to buy without getting my hands on it to play first. Another name came up while I was doing some research, Fletcher-Brock. Sarah Jarosz plays one:
https://youtu.be/Hpd9QgQEQ2E
I never play my National Tricone, I could trade that in and be half-way to an Octave.
Edit: Do you think a K&K twin mando pickup would work on one of these instruments?